3 years in the making and the wait ends. Like the other reviews so far (11-11-00) I've had the pre-release of this CD for a few weeks now. I've been waiting to review it simply because I wanted to fully digest the material here. With that said I can honestly say that Living Sacrifice are nothing short of Christian metal kings! They've got history, and future all in one.
To be honest when I saw them live at C2K I was stunned, however their 2 song demo tape they handed out left me somewhat disappointed. I really felt we were just bracing ourselves for a carbon copy of Reborn. Not that Reborn wasn't a great album, it's just we expect LS to reinvent themselves with each subsequent album.
Once Flatline (track 1) I really felt I was correct in my assumptions and Bloodwork (track 2) while different (better) than the demo tape really seemed to keep that pace going...then I made it to Not My Own, and I felt so much more comforted! I can't get enough of the slow building intro to Altered Life, and the solo presented here is fast and blistering!
In an effort to NOT give you a full track by track let me just say that LS brings metal to the table with new elements to offer as well. First off the evidence of clean vocals must be addressed. Although used sparingly, the main thing that struck me about their singing is THEY DID IT RIGHT! There's no whiny emo-influenced singing presented. When they do sing you are delivered vocals that are every bit as angry feeling, and still backed by aggressive guitars! Bloodwork, Altered Life, Hand of the Dead and Perfect are the only tracks I recall actually using them, with the most only having a couple parts and the later digging deeper into singing. The much talked about Lead Guitar Solos...yes ever present on almost all tracks and done so well it leaves me wondering where this LS lineup has been the past 15 years.
Lyrically, we're talking about LS here, do the math. No denying this band's faith! (I now have a full copy and can read the lyrics whereas the pre-release had no lyrics.)
Down falls. This CD clocks in at just under 39 minutes. Not terrible but you do find yourself at the end of the album WAY before you are wanting it to be over, so that is a bit disappointing. I really don't like the layout of this CD at all. The band pics are great but the insert itself is terrible with a couple of parts of the lyrics very hard to read in their metallic silver and light backgrounds. (Not as bad as the EndTimes Productions release of Burial by Extol though.) These are so minor I only mention them to prepare you. Hey if that's the best I can do in coming up with negative points, you KNOW this is a good album.
Stand out tracks for me are Local Vengeance Killing, and Conditional which is their only really fast song, and superb way to close out the CD, it's also a 5 minute (the longest) song...if we could only have had Bruce do a bit of growling here and there this track would have been perfect. There is no reason why everyone reading this should NOT have a copy of this album, and treasure it!
9.5/10
Other coverage for this album
HM Magazine #91Reviewed by UnknownThe Record Collection, a new vinyl-focused label that digressed into the digital medium for a limited release Snailhuntr CD, brings us two impressive and fully licensed collector's items for the hard music audiophile. The first is the first-pressing of Living Sacrifice's The Hammering Process LP on 12" vinyl of assorted colors. All poly-bagged with an insert (but no lyric sheet), the records come…HM Magazine #86Reviewed by Melba JacksonMy grandson, Jesse, gave me this CD and said, "Spin this, gramma! Maybe you can write a review for this magazine." Now, I've never written an album review before, but I know what I like. And I hate this. First of all, these boys from Little Rock do not know how to sing! I feel sorry for Bruce Fitzhugh's mother, because this boy obviously forgot everything he learned in choir. Now, his…Bandoppler 2000Reviewed by Chad OlsonThe wait is finally over. The new Living Sacrifice album has arrived. Three years in the making, Bruce Fitzhugh and company have created a metal onslaught sure to become a masterpiece in the collections of metalcore fans. With new lead guitarist Rocky Gray, new bassist Arthur Green, and the addition of percussionist Matthew Putman (the latter 2 formerly of Eso Charis), Fitzhugh and drummer Lance…Art for the Ears 2000Reviewed by Marco PovervestA highly anticipated release from Solid State, that's what you can say about The Hammering Process. With the release of Reborn, Living Sacrifice's previous album, the band gained lots of new enthusiastic fans and inspired many hard bands worldwide. The Hammering Process features a new line-up as the Truby brothers left the band. They are replaced by three guys. Two of them were part of…Dead Zine 2000Reviewed by the ProjectOh boy hold on tight because The Hammering Process is a wild and crazy ride. This is groove/death metal at its finest. I could not believe what I was hearing was Living Sacrifice. The past albums were harder, and more blistering than the past albums. The lyrics were totally amazing with heartfelt angst and aggression. This band has been around the block many times and rounds it again with this. I…Dead Zine 2000Reviewed by undeadEvery so often, there are bands that sit atop a pinnacle in the music spectrum. As in this particular case, they wait four or five years between albums, in hopes that the fans will be crazed for new material. In this case, nearly five years has passed since Reborn was released, which exceeded the expectations of most fans, excluding myself. Reborn was a drastic step from its death metal…Dead Zine 2000Reviewed by thOrNThis review is sorta my rebuttal against the other reviews.... Ok I will come right out and give it a 10. My fellow writers I think are afraid to do this. There is no denying Living Sacrifice's place in all our hearts. We all love them. And there is no denying the crushin power of this album. I saw LS a few weeks before this album came out and what I saw made me salivate for this album. So come…Dead Zine 2000Reviewed by GrindboyDo you understand this band? With about as stable of a lineup as you could hope for in the Christian scene, they put out 4 shockingly different records. Then they take a 3 year break between albums, undergo gargantuan lineup changes... and the sound stays generally the same as last time. Do you understand this band? Despite the opening here though, this cd is pretty much exactly what I expected.…Dead Zine 2000Reviewed by CrusaderToday is November 7th. It's a day that unveils the fruit of a 3 year wait for LS fans. Your typical first reviews of this cd will come from writers who rushed to the store today to obtain a copy.. fumbling for the keys to their car with purchase in hand, a gleam in their eye as they shove one in the ignition and after a brief but agonizing struggle with the shrink wrap, pop into their cd player..…Dead Zine 2000Reviewed by FletchLet me start by saying that this album has been long coming. My first real concert was about four years just before Living Sacrifice put out Reborn. Zao and Living Sacrifice played. In fact, Zao was just getting ready to release The Splinter Shards the Birth of Separation. Well, here it is four years later. Comparatively, Zao has since turned the music world upside down with two more full lengths…Similar sounding releases
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